SAN ANTONIO — Luc Richard Mbah a Moute got on UCLA’s charter Wednesday and headed to his third straight Final Four believing the wait would be much longer before his parents saw him play in person.

Surprise, surprise.

Less than 24 hours later, Mbah a Moute’s mother, Agnes Goufane Ziem, was in the United States.

Friday, she traveled from Maryland and is now in town for today’s NCAA Tournament semifinal against Memphis at the Alamodome.

Also, Mbah a Moute’s father, Camille Moute a Bidias, is en route and expected to be at the game.

“It would mean a lot because it will be the first time my parents see me play in person,” said the Bruins’ starting power forward. “That’s going to be good. It would be exciting.”

Mbah a Moute, who is from Yaounde, Cameroon, didn’t begin playing basketball until he was 15.

He will be the first UCLA player in 34 years to start in three Final Fours.

Aboya done?: UCLA is already poised to lose center Kevin Love and point guard Darren Collison early to the NBA draft, but reserve center Alfred Aboya could also be leaving early, although not for the NBA.

Aboya, a junior, said he will graduate in June with a degree in international relations, and wants to continue his education as he works toward a political career (he wants to become president of Cameroon). Asked if this could be his last season at UCLA, Aboya said, “Right now, I don’t know. We’ll see.”

Aboya said he plans on going to graduate school to get a master’s degree. It is possible that work could be done at UCLA. He said that would be the best-case scenario since it would allow him to continue playing basketball, but he wouldn’t rule out leaving after this season.

Shoe business:The countdown to the title game has taken place on the outside of Kevin Love’s left sneaker.

It began with the No. 65 (representing the teams in the tournament) written in black magic marker, followed by 64 and 32. After each win Love added something else, from Sweet 16 to Elite 8 and Final 4, each written toward the back of the shoe. There is enough space for one more phrase.

“That’s what I saved the back for, and the other side,” Love said.

Love also dazzled a few thousand fans at UCLA’s 50-minute public shootaround by attempting length-of-the-court, chest pass-style shots. He banked one in, and hit the rim on several others.

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